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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22627129">Milestones</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/musterings/pseuds/musterings'>musterings</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Final Fantasy XV</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>30s gladnis, Anal Sex, Barebacking, Birthday Sex, Canon Disabled Character, Come Marking, Established Relationship, Explicit Sexual Content, First Time, M/M, New Relationship, POV Ignis Scientia, Porn with Feelings, World of Ruin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 00:48:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,556</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22627129</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/musterings/pseuds/musterings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p></p><blockquote>
  <p>“I finished up my work up north and I heard from the Marshal you’d be here at Old Lestallum tonight.” The springs the mattress creaked as Gladio sat down on his bed with a deep sigh, and so Ignis followed suit and took the empty space beside him. “I didn’t want you to be alone.”</p>
  <p>Ignis’s brow knit in annoyance. “I thought we had established I can carry out my tasks without yours or anybody else’s assistance.”</p>
  <p>Gladio let out a guffaw and placed a hand over Ignis’s knee.</p>
  <p>“That’s not what I meant,” he said, squeezing his knee, the sensation placating Ignis’s welling frustration, and if he were being honest, stirring something in his belly. “I didn’t wanna leave you alone today.”</p>
</blockquote>Gladio helps Ignis remember certain milestones.<p>Happy Birthday Iggy!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Gladiolus Amicitia/Ignis Scientia</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>102</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Milestones</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Happy belated birthday Iggy, you magnificent bastard. Can't think of any other fictional character I'd rather share a bday with, i hope you enjoy your dicking</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>There was a firm knock against Ignis’s door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Having only barely just fallen into a poor attempt at sleep, Ignis raised his head from his lumpy pillow and sharply towards the sound. It was late, insofar that late meant the space of time since Ignis last woke was more than twenty hours ago. And he was also meant to be left alone. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His research into the old King’s tombs sent him to Ravatogh next, where along the waye he was to deliver a set of crucial supplies with a small contingent that would join with a band of hunters clearing a nest of daemons in the area. Their rest stop was exactly that—the old motel at Old Lestallum,  now rundown and repurposed for the use of any hunters in the vicinity. Ignis’s assigned team stayed in the room adjacent, and had been gracious—though Ignis would hazard a guess that they had also been intimidated—enough to leave him in a private room. One part of that could also be callousness. Who cared what happened to the blind man anyway?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nevertheless, Ignis’s companions knew not to disturb him, unless it was an emergency, but the knock was too careful to signal anything as such. The bed creaked as he rose, and reached out for his daggers on his bedside table. His pulse quickening in his ears, he tread quietly towards the door and he waited.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The knock came again, louder and more deliberate.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who is it?” Ignis called out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey Iggy, it’s me,” came a deep voice, familiar even muffled through the motel door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis’s racing heart slowed, though enough to a rhythmic thumping that was reminiscent of a more pleasant emotion. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s ‘me’ doesn’t really suffice either I’m afraid,” said Ignis through the door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The man of your dreams then?” the voice tried.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good night Gladio,” Ignis drawled, setting his daggers back on the bedside table. Gladio would probably laugh at the sight, Ignis stripped down to his undershirt and boxers, but armed and poised to defend himself as he was in the battlefield.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So you </span>
  <em>
    <span>do</span>
  </em>
  <span> know who it is,” Gladio barked out with a laugh. He jiggled the doorknob from the other side, having heard Ignis walk away from the door. “Could ya let me in? Any longer out here and the wildlife might sniff me out.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With a smile to himself, Ignis unlatched the chain and unlocked the door, stepping aside to let the man and his heavy footsteps in. “Maybe I should’ve left you outside.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You wouldn’t,” said Gladio. His voice now unobscured by the door was a warm sound that enveloped Ignis, much like Gladio’s arms did in a tight embrace as soon as Ignis locked the door behind him. “I missed ya.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chapped lips met Ignis’s, and Ignis froze for but a second before he wrapped his arms over Gladio’s shoulders and returned the kiss. Gladio’s brazen affections were a foreign concept to Ignis, as new as their budding relationship was. He had never been with someone so all encompassing with his romantic gestures, with his touches, and gods help Ignis, with his words. Though to be frank, Ignis had never been with anyone else like Gladio.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I had only left you some two weeks ago,” Ignis huffed against Gladio’s shoulder, “You’ve survived longer without me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know,” said Gladio softly, his breath warm against Ignis’s temple. “Once I get used to having you around though, it’s like I can’t bear to live without ya.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now I know you’re merely buttering me up.” Untangling himself from Gladio’s arms, Ignis gave Gladio’s stubbled cheek a light tap. He stepped away from him, reaching out to switch on the lamp on the bedside table for Gladio. “Now what brings you here exactly? Weren’t you meant to be back up north?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A heavy hand ran over the small of Ignis’s back. Ignis shivered at the touch, his worn undershirt a flimsy barrier against the warmth of Gladio’s fingers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not shirking if that’s what ya think I’m doing,” said Gladio. His hand remained on Ignis’s lower back, gently nudging him there, back towards Ignis’s bed. “I finished up my work up north and I heard from the Marshal you’d be here at Old Lestallum tonight.” The springs the mattress creaked as Gladio sat down on his bed with a deep sigh, and so Ignis followed suit and took the empty space beside him. “I didn’t want you to be alone.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis’s brow knit in annoyance. “I thought we had established I can carry out my tasks without yours or anybody else’s assistance.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gladio let out a guffaw and placed a hand over Ignis’s knee.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s not what I meant,” he said, squeezing his knee, the sensation placating Ignis’s welling frustration, and if he were being honest, stirring something in his belly. “I didn’t wanna leave you alone </span>
  <em>
    <span>today.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s today?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Really Iggy?” chuckled Gladio in disbelief. The mattress creaked again and rose as Gladio got back up on his feet. His footsteps left and returned, followed by the slide of a chair’s legs across the floor. There was the rustle of heavy clothing, and the sound of something landing on the floor with a quiet thud as Gladio sat back on the bed beside Ignis.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis could only tilt his head in curiosity until Gladio took his hand in his, and lay it over a small parcel covered in paper that now sat on the chair Gladio dragged in front of them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That doesn’t answer my question.” Ignis took his hand away from the parcel, but Gladio clasped it in his calloused palms.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How about this? Do y’know what month we’re in?” asked Gladio, his uncharacteristically soft voice almost drowned out by the sound of paper being unwrapped.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s February, of course I would know that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What day in February?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis took a deep breath and crossed his arms over his chest, trying his damndest to quell the fuming irritation inside him at Gladio’s cryptic behaviour. In the darkness, keeping track of the days had become more difficult as the Night stretched longer and indistinct. Gladio should know better than anyone that this was all the more true for Ignis, whose internal clock relied on when he last lifted his head up from sleep. Considering how rare that occurred as of late, Ignis’s internal clock could hardly be called reliable.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll give you a hint,” said Gladio. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was the sound of rattling, then the strike of a match against what Ignis now knew was a matchbox, then the telltale crackle of a flame. After a moment Gladio blew out a puff of air, and all Ignis could smell was the smoke that remained from the put out match stick and the faint hint of burning wax.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We just made it through the first week of the month,” Gladio said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis’s shoulders sank. Since Noctis’s disappearance, each year crept up on Ignis and left him behind with a heavy emptiness inside him, uncertainty and fear weighing in his gut, that such milestones no longer existed to him as the Long Night grew longer still.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You didn’t have to come all the way out here for that,” he murmured. “That’s the least of anyone’s priorities.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I wanted to,” said Gladio, “How else was I gonna bring you your cake in time?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis should have been frustrated. At the scarce and precious fuel Gladio most likely used, the post he abandoned, Ignis’s plans he waylaid, all for a trifling gesture. But it was also typical of him. Years before, the decision to stay with Gladio was one weighed heavily and informed by Ignis’s own motives. He needed someone far more adept than himself to help train him back up, but more importantly he needed someone who could, and would not hesitate to push him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Gladio performed to Ignis’s expectation, once he had overcame his caution and the concern he held for Ignis as his friend.To cohabitate with Gladio was both unfamiliar and comfortable at once. It was almost as if they were back to those days where they were to room together based on the whims of their Prince every night. But without Noctis and Prompto—though he visited and overnighted when he could—Ignis learned to appreciate the quiet that Ignis never knew Gladio to be capable of. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis was content to weather through the ever expanding darkness, to let each day meld and blend into the next. Gladio wasn’t standing for it, whether or not he was aware of it. When they were fortunate enough to be in Lestallum at the same time</span>
  <span>, Gladio broke up the monotony of each passing day, signalling each start with his weary but cheery good mornings, and ending each one with a timid good night, and filling everything in-between with lighthearted quips or rambling stories from missions he had just returned from or what Iris has been up to since he last saw her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But their Prince at large served another purpose. Without Noctis, there was no longer a convenient conversation topic to turn to when the quiet seemed pregnant rather than pleasant, and with eac</span>
  <span>h day there was no sealing the cracks in the wall duty built between them, when every brush with death with no clear end or purpose pushed them closer and closer together,  until one evening, after months of crossing paths and decrypting Gladio’s flirtations in front of other hunters, the evening became anything but any other, one that broke away from the long and indefinite night, a light flickering back on inside Ignis when Gladio’s lips met his over stale tasting bottles of beer salvaged from a run down general store.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You didn’t have to do this.” Ignis finally said, letting out a heavy sigh. “Thank you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m always gonna make excuses to see ya and this one’s as good as it gets,”</span>
  <span> said Gladio hesitantly. “</span>
  <span>Iris did all the heavy lifting, but she said she’s sorry if her pound cake isn’t as good as anything you can come up with.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sure she did a wonderful job.” Ignis set his hand down on the chair in front of him and suppressed a smile. “With a birthday candle too?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A tealight was the best I can do,” said Gladio. “Gonna blow it out or am I gonna hafta sing?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis let out a puff of air where Gladio directed him to without hesitation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey! That was rude,” Gladio chuckled “I’m not a bad singer.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll let you keep believing that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gladio’s laugh neared Ignis until his lips closed over his again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Happy Birthday Iggy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis pulled apart bits of pound cake with his fingers, while he and Gladio caught each other up on their week so far. Iris did a decent job with what scarce ingredients she may have had, the cake still moist despite the travel time Gladio exposed it to, the tangy lemon and the faint vanilla the most comforting taste Ignis has had all week. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"When do you guys leave?" asked Gladio, crumpling up the paper that wrapped their now eaten cake. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"First thing tomorrow morning," said Ignis, taking a sip of water from his canteen. "It's a long journey ahead yet." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A large hand rubbed against Ignis's shoulder. Gladio hummed in thought. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I should probably leave you to get some rest." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Nonsense," said Ignis. "You drove all the way out here, I'm not going to send you back straight away. Stay the night."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"If you insist."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis swept off the crumbs he could feel on his lap, then got ready to slip under his threadbare sheet and lay back against his pillow. At the foot of his bed, the mattress springs sighed, followed by the sound of clothes rustling. Gladio often joked that clothes restricted him, making it difficult to sleep. Ignis would argue that since they had begun sharing a bed in the apartment they shared in Lestallum, the the lack of Gladio’s clothes made it difficult for </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ignis</span>
  </em>
  <span> to sleep.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Gladio?" asked Ignis when there was no sign of the other man returning to the bed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What's up?" Gladio asked, his voice coming from somewhere on the floor. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Don't be ridiculous. You're sleeping up here with me." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The bed's tiny Iggy, and you need you rest more than I do for tomorrow."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis clicked his tongue. "You said you weren't going to leave me alone tonight didn't you?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a pause of silence until Gladio released a breathy laugh. "Fine, fine, whatever the birthday boy wants." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>This time the mattress behind Ignis sank, and the warmth of Gladio's body surrounded Ignis's back. For a moment the two laid there, Ignis on his side, and Gladio behind him on their narrow motel bed, until Ignis reached out behind him and pulled Gladio's arm over his waist. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gladio chuckled, amused, but pressed himself flush against Ignis's back, his fingers playing under the hem of Ignis’s shirt. A flush crept up Ignis's cheeks. They had been sharing a bed for months now, but it was at least a queen size where Gladio respected Ignis's need for space, despite how badly Ignis wanted him to hold him, as they slept but could only fail to verbalise. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I missed you," Gladio murmured into his hair. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I know," was all Ignis could say. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Turn around? I wanna see you." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis shifted and rolled over in Gladio's arms. Gladio pecked him on the lips. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Happy now?" asked Ignis. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I am if you are." Gladio kissed him again, deep and firm, sending heat all over Ignis's chest. Feeling emboldened, Ignis placed one hand on Gladio's shoulder and kissed him back. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gladio grunted in surprise, but caught on quickly enough to slip his hand under Ignis's shirt, his fingers running up his back, the contact between their skin making Ignis shiver. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was Ignis who deepened the kiss, growing drunk from the heat of Gladio's body, as if the contact was not enough, despite how pressed together they were that there were no gaps in between, and sliding his tongue into Gladio's mouth only getting them closer together. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gladio moaned, and matched Ignis's sloppy kisses. Ignis found himself rolled onto his back, Gladio's body pressing him into the mattress as they kissed, kicking their sheets off towards the end of the bed. Ignis ran his hand over Gladio's bare torso, taking in the fine dusting of hair all over his chest and arms, a far cry from the waxed planes Gladio toted in his youth. Back when all Ignis could do was look. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cupping Ignis’s face in his hands, Gladio rolled his hips against Ignis and Ignis shuddered out a gasp. Ignis slung a leg over Gladio’s hip, pressing their groins together. Gladio had stripped down to his underwear it seemed, and Ignis could feel his hardening length pressing against his own growing erection through the thin fabric of his boxers. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>This, this was familiar. Messy makeouts on their lumpy couch, sweat slicked in the Lestallum heat. Rutting against each other until they, embarrassingly Ignis might add, would come  in their pants, or one of them would have the bright idea to pull their cocks out and stroke them together to release. They’ve gotten further some evenings. Gladio opening him up on a night where they knew they would have the morning to recover, just to get Ignis used to the sensation, or Ignis acclimatising himself to Gladio’s impressive length and girth with his mouth and hands. There was never any time to go any further. Gladio was always needed somewhere else, or someone would always find a lead for Ignis that he had to investigate, right at once.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But Ignis was tired of the familiar. At least for tonight, he needed Gladio to break his monotony once more.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They broke apart, Ignis’s head rolling back against the pillow, his pulse thumping in his ears as he released quiet breaths. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry ‘bout that,” muttered Gladio, “Can’t hold myself back with you sometimes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am just as culpable,” said Ignis. He brought his hand up to his lips, wiping away the saliva from the corner of his mouth. Like some teenager, Ignis thought to himself. The things Gladio could reduce him to sometimes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Want me to finish you off?” asked Gladio, the low grumble of his voice as he said it stirring something in Ignis’s gut.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Reaching out, Ignis threaded his fingers through Gladio’s hair. When they caught against the elastic that held the long strands together, Ignis slipped it off and placed it somewhere beside him, combing his fingers through them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s strange. We’re both unprepared and in the middle of nowhere and yet all I can think about right now is you taking me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It sounded like a laugh, but it was more of strangled sound that Gladio made as he sat up and away from Ignis.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you serious?” he asked, his voice hesitant.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How long have we been together Gladio? I’ve—” Ignis swallowed a lump down his throat. His earlier admission was almost inadvertent, caught in the heat of Gladio’s embrace, the irritation and shock at Gladio’s irresponsibility giving way to warm fondness and excitement that someone would go to such lengths to keep him company. He’d never needed to tell Gladio what he needed, always assuming that Gladio wanted it just as much. But something like this, Gladio would never push himself, not unless he was sure Ignis wanted it too. “You know how I feel about you. I— I want you. But I understand completely too if this isn’t something you want out of this or— if I’m being unreasonable— gods, the whole world is going to shit and all I can think about is having sex—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey now,” muttered Gladio, his hand pressing down on Ignis’s hair. “You can want things Iggy. Do you know how badly I’ve really wanted to pin you down into the mattress and have my way with you too?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis turned his head, away from Gladio’s gaze he hoped, his face aflare with embarrassment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pretty fuckin’ badly, but I wasn’t gonna make you do anything you didn’t wanna do.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well we’ve both established that we’re on the same page now,” said Ignis. “But it’s not as if we can do anything about it seeing—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That we’re unprepared?” Gladio completed, his voice smug. “Who says Gladiolus Amicitia is ever unprepared?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Gladiolus.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Ignis winced. “You didn’t.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“‘Course I did! Not that I thought we were goin’ all the way, but y’know, it’s your birthday. In case you wanted me to jack you off, or I know you’ve enjoyed having my fingers in ya—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now all of a sudden I want to retract my statement.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And that’s okay too. We can just finish off and go to bed—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No,” said Ignis firmly. He laid his head back against his pillow. He can’t see Gladio but he could feel his gaze boring straight through him. His sheets felt too faraway. Save for the lamp he left on for Gladio, lights were off, not that that mattered to Ignis, but under Gladio, it was like he was exposed, and laid bare, with nowhere else to hide behind. “I want you. If you’ll have me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gladio’s chuckle was warm and fond. His lips enclosed over Ignis’s, before they pressed small kisses along his face. “Of course I’ll have you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For a moment, Gladio rose—presumably to acquire the appropriate preparations he so bragged about—and returned to press Ignis back into the mattress, their kisses now slow and hesitant, unlike the fervid pace they had before. Reluctantly Ignis slipped off his undershirt, aware of the mangled scars that lay beneath. He knew the lamp was on, but he could at least rely on the fact that he didn’t have to see how Gladio looked at him when he shucked his shirt off his head, relieved when Gladio chucked it to the side with no comment, the hair on Gladio’s chest pressing against the bare skin of Ignis’s. His hands ran down Ignis’s sides, making him shiver against their hard callouses, and stopped short of the waistband of his boxers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can I take these off?” asked Gladio, separating for Ignis’s lips, his voice thick.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Of course, how else will you be able to fuck me</span>
  </em>
  <span>, but it died on Ignis’s lips as Gladio mouthed over his neck, and all he could do was nod in approval. His boxers slid down his hips, baring his erection out into the cool air. Ignis’s hands travelled down to Gladio’s hips, tugging down at his underwear, and Gladio chuckled, and tugged the bit of clothing off. Slotting himself back between Ignis’s legs, Ignis’s cock met with Gladio’s hot length, before Gladio’s large hand enclosed over their shafts.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wrapping his arms around Gladio’s shoulders for purchase, Ignis let out a shuddered groan against Gladio’s mouth, thrusting up into his fist and against Gladio’s cock. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Feel that?” muttered Gladio, “That’s what you to do to me Iggy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Instinctively Ignis snapped his head to the side, pressing the scarred side to the pillow, but Gladio’s thumb and forefinger gently turned him back to face him by the chin, kissing him firm when he stayed there.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, you don’t need to hide anything from me.” Gladio kissed the scar over his eyes, trailing kisses down to his lips. “I love seeing every bit of you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Force of habit,” muttered Ignis. He’d had encounters, a small number to distract from the pain and the loss, before he and Gladio found themselves in the darkness. Some who were vocal with their wishes to obscure Ignis’s disfigured face. Some who were more subtle about what they thought, but Ignis knew time and time again why they all preferred him on their hands on knees.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Better work on this new habit then,” said Gladio. “I wanna see your gorgeous face as much as I can.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re only saying that to get between my legs,” Ignis scoffed, his chest welling with warmth nevertheless.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m already there babe, got nothin’ more to gain by buttering you up.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t see you doing anything about it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Impatient are we?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis bent his knees, setting his feet onto the bed, spreading his legs open. He heard the hitch in Gladio’s throat. “I’ve been on the road for a </span>
  <em>
    <span>week</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Gladiolus.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright, alright, I got you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After a few moments of Gladio leaning over to the bedside table then settling himself back between Ignis’s legs, the rough pads of Gladio’s fingers finally met with his entrance, gently but firmly massaging that spot. Ignis suppressed a whine when Gladio pulled away, but then those fingers returned, wet and slick with lube, slowly circling his entrance. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The first finger entered with some resistance—Ignis’s more primal needs always sat last on his list of priorities, even moreso now—but with Gladio’s gentle coaxing, and soft kisses against Ignis’s lips, Ignis grew used to its intrusion, gasping against Gladio’s cheek, urging him to keep going. Soon Gladio had three fingers pressed deeply into Ignis, the discomfort all but ebbing away to pleasure as Gladio pawed and massaged over that sensitive spot inside him. Ignis honed in on that sensation, desperately holding out for what came after. He recalled balmy and lazy afternoons on the floor of their musty living room, moaning into Gladio’s shoulder while he fingered him slick open with his thick fingers, until Ignis would come undone.   </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m ready,” Ignis grunted. He had one arm wrapped around Gladio’s neck, his back arching with every contact Gladio made with that sensitive spot inside him, whilst Gladio ran his teeth along his throat. “You can keep going.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You sure? You feel pretty tight.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m fine,” said Ignis. “I’ll let you know if I need you to stop.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright then.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For a moment though, Gladio did nothing. Ignis was about to ask where he had gone off to, when his hips were lifted up off the bed, and a rolled up sheet was placed under his hips. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Comfy?” Gladio asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’ll do,” said Ignis with a smile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait,” Gladio let out an exhale. “Shit, hang on.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gladio sighed and Ignis could hear him roughly ruffle his own hair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I forgot to bring a condom.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The haze of lust in Ignis’s mind cleared, and he threw his head back into the pillow with a choked laugh.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A</span>
  <em>
    <span>nd who said Gladiolus Amicitia is ever unprepared</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” Ignis said breathlessly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I told ya, I wasn’t expecting us to get this far,” said Gladio with another heavy sigh, exasperation wearing out the edges of his voice. “Want me to finish you off?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis took a deep breath, clearing his mind as it caught up with him again. His cock throbbed hard, it almost ached, leaking all over his front. Gladio’s cock rest against Ignis’s groin, heavy and hot, the shaft trailing lube inside his thigh, and Ignis had never felt so empty until that moment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Such resources were scarce to begin with, which was one reason why Ignis’s encounters had been few and far between. Ignis may give into his primal tendencies now and then, but he was still careful. And from what he and Gladio have spoken about when their relationship broached the physical, Gladio was as cautious as Ignis was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We can keep going,” Ignis finally said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you sure?” asked Gladio, his voice tinged with hesitation, but Ignis didn’t miss how suddenly the question came.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I haven’t been with anyone else in months but you,” said Ignis.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gladio’s rough palms ran over Ignis’s thighs. “Same here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can handle the clean up.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You really want this don’t’cha?” Gladio asked, his thumbs kneading into the muscle of Ignis’s legs. There was no hint of teasing in his voice, only tenderness, and quite uncharacteristic of Gladio, reservation. As if he really needed to hear Ignis’s confirmation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I do. I want you,” said Ignis again, his throat tight, it almost came out as a whisper. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gladio leaned down and kissed him again, the strokes of his tongue inside Ignis’s mouth firm and thorough. He laid one of of Ignis’s legs over his lap, and lifted up the other by the back of Ignis’s calf. The hot and slick flesh of the head of Gladio’s cock pressed against his entrance. Ignis drew in a sharp breath. He grasped Gladio’s shoulder as Gladio’s cock slowly penetrated Ignis, the stretch of his entrance around its head almost unbearable.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis was no stranger to Gladio’s cock. He had tested himself time and time again, to see how far of its length he could take in his mouth. He had wrapped his own long, slender fingers around its girth, pushed back at his foreskin as he stroked Gladio to arousal, had run his tongue over its veins, the best he could do to memorise what it felt like, to really </span>
  <em>
    <span>see</span>
  </em>
  <span> how impressive his Gladiolus was. None of his previous partners had been anywhere close to Gladio. But none of that could ever prepare him for the sensation of his thick cock stretching him open, even when slicked with lube. Gladio would draw out a fraction of an inch, and Ignis would catch his breath, until Gladio was rolling his hips again, burying more of himself inside Ignis.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Gladio—” Ignis gasped. His nails dug into the muscle of Gladio’s back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Relax, we’ll take it slow. You’re gonna add more scars in there I </span>
  <em>
    <span>won’t </span>
  </em>
  <span>be able to explain when Iris tries to help clean up my wounds next time,” murmured Gladio. “I know I’m a bit much.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Literally and figuratively,” said Ignis through gritted teeth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll let ya have that,” said Gladio with a soft chuckle. He rubbed a thumb into Ignis’s calf, and bent down to kiss Ignis’s neck, wet and tender things that travelled down to his clavicle, distracting Ignis from the intense stretch. Ignis let out a shuddered moan. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Still good?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Soon, the stretch gave way to a pressure against his prostate, and Ignis could better tolerate Gladio’s length fully entering him, until he was pressed flush against Gladio’s balls. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis released a breath he had been holding in, leaving his mouth hang open as his head rolled back into the pillow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Took me all the way in,” said Gladio fondly. His hands slid against Ignis’s sides, now forming a sheen of sweat. His thumbs rubbed against Ignis’s hips. “You look beautiful like this Iggy. Exactly how I imagined you’d look.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis breathed deep and slow, taking the time to get used to feeling so full and stretched. Knowing Gladio, that could be the only reason he was running his mouth. He always had his way of being considerate.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is that something you do often?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck yes. When I’m left alone at home, or I’m out on the road, or I’m camping out with a bunch of smelly hunters, all I’m thinkin’ about is fucking you nice and deep.” Gladio groaned. Grasping behind Ignis’s knees, he began to roll his hips again in small slow movements, making Ignis draw in sharp intakes of breath. “Or I imagine you pushing me down on our coffee table.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The one we got from that restaurant next door?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s the one. I’ve pictured you holding me down on that, fucking me hard from behind ‘cus I won’t be going anywhere else for a while. One hell of a fantasy, that huh?” Gladio laughed. “Not needing to be anywhere but under you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’d forgotten you had a filthy mouth,” Ignis gasped. But it worked. Gladio’s deep voice drew his cock tighter, the slide of Gladio’s cock in and out of his stretched rim feeling more pleasurable than uncomfortable, especially when his head pressed against his prostate.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gladio chuckled again. He pressed down on the back of Ignis’s knees, really testing the stretch of Ignis’s thighs, and began to thrust more in earnest, jostling Ignis on the bed. The bed was an old thing. The frame rusted over, creaking in the silence, the mattress, equally as ancient, groaning with it. The head of Gladio’s cock struck Ignis’s prostate again, and Ignis cried out loud, screwing his eyes shut, instinctively covering his eyes with one arm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Gladio—!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Still good?” asked Gladio.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis gulped. “It feels good.” Better than he’s felt in a long time. Better than the past few years he’s spent only realising that he was a year older, another year past with no clear direction or answers of how to forge ahead, before setting aside that that trifling matters known as birthdays had occurred and charging ahead anyway. “Right there—” he panted, letting his forearm weigh on his eyes, “a little deeper.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright, but—” Gladio grunted. He lifted up Ignis’s arm, and gently laced his fingers with his, pressing it down to the mattress and away from his face. “I wanna see all of you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not that there was much of him to see, what with the scars that marred more than just his face, raised skin he had felt under his own fingers when he examined himself, angry marks he could picture in his mind’s eye. He ran his free hand over the large scar cutting through the hair that had grown on Gladio’s chest, then over the indentations left on his forehead and over his eye. Even when Gladio had sustained his first injury as a stubborn, but noble teenager, standing up to drunks in alleyways for his Prince, and even when he returned, scarred and bloodied from a reckless feat of machismo, even before Ignis knew he would fall in love with that loud and boisterous laugh, Ignis had always found Gladio to be the most handsome man he had ever met.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For Ignis to degrade himself over his own disfigurement would be hypocritical of him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re beautiful Iggy,” Gladio whispered, continuing his slow and deliberate thrusts. “You’re gorgeous.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis’s whole face burned, his chest squeezed tight in his ribs, and robbed of his words—by his embarrassment, by the pleasure that pooled inside him from Gladio’s languid and loving thrusts—Ignis could only reach out to stroke Gladio’s cheek. Hearing his wordless plea, Gladio bent forward and cupped the back of Ignis’s neck, pulling their lips together, gasping and panting against each other as Gladio slammed inside Ignis over and over, Ignis arching into Gladio’s chest with every thrust against his prostate.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m close—” said Ignis, swallowing the saliva pooling in his mouth. His cock leaked all over his front, untouched and aching for the attention. “I need to come—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll give you that,” gasped Gladio, “I’ll give you everything you want.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Instead of the relentless thrusts Ignis had hoped would follow, Gladio instead sat back, looping his arms behind Ignis’s back to pull him up to sit on his lap. The sudden change of position drew Gladio’s cock deeper inside him, making him grasp onto the back of Gladio’s neck and yelp.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry, couldn’t help it,” said Gladio softly. “I really wanna hold you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve wanted that too,” said Ignis, his voice wavering. He settled himself against Gladio’s thick and muscular thighs, settling himself in Gladio’s lap, rolling his hips, relishing in feeling moving Gladio in and out of him. “For a very long time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What took us so long right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You were stubborn.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And you weren’t?” Gladio thrust up, bouncing Ignis in his lap.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good point,” Ignis gasped out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Gladio struck it, Ignis clamped his hand over his mouth, stifling a loud moan, and Gladio pulled that away too, closing his mouth over Ignis’s, their tongues messily sliding against each other as he wrapped his hand around Ignis’s cock. He sped his thrusts up by just a smidge,  angling his hips to hit Ignis’s prostate every time, taking Ignis clamping his mouth over his shoulder and moaning as confirmation to keep going. It did not take long until Ignis fell apart, bouncing in Gladio’s lap, grinding down to meet Gladio’s thrusts, clenching wildly around Gladio as his cock spilled all over his closed fist, his cries swallowed and muffled against the salty sweat of the skin of Gladio’s shoulder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mind clouded over in an amorous haze, Ignis rest his weight on Gladio’s lap and met Gladio’s lips again, running his tongue inside Gladio’s mouth, before laving his stubbled cheeks with soft and messy kisses. Gladio tried to meet them all, laughing whenever they missed each other, Ignis’s orgasm rending him uncoordinated.</span>
</p><p><span>“Gladio, I—”</span><em><span> want you, need you,</span></em> <em><span>love you,</span></em><span> but Ignis shook his head.</span> <span>“How about you?”</span></p><p>
  <span>“I’m fine,” said Gladio, his voice low and laced with affection. “I love watching you let go like that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s my birthday,” said Ignis sternly. It sounded foreign admitting it out loud, having disposed of such selfish frivolities for years. “And I say I want you to keep fucking me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You sure?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis nodded. Gladio’s stiff length and the stretch of his rim around him felt uncomfortable. It always did post-orgasm, and with previous partners, Ignis always found himself riding out the discomfort, making them use him, chasing that sensation that tread the fine line between pain and pleasure, numbing every other emotion beneath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But now all he chased was Gladio’s pleasure. To make him feel as good as he did, make his chest burst the same way Ignis’s did, to let him see him in his most vulnerable state, mind addled in lust, fucked straight into oversensitivity, his chest brimming with affection he himself continued to deny, still too afraid to bare </span>
  <em>
    <span>every </span>
  </em>
  <span>part of him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>So for now, he would let Gladio have this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes,” Ignis whispered. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If that’s what the birthday boy wants,” chuckled Gladio. He pressed their lips together again. Ignis wrapped one arm around Gladio’s neck, and laced one hand through Gladio’s thick hair. One of Gladio’s hands, still wet with Ignis’s come, cupped over Ignis’s rear, whilst the other grasped over his back, pressing Ignis against him as he began rolling his hips up, slowly and carefully. He thrust into Ignis faster this time, his thrusts jerky, his groans loud into Ignis’s mouth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Still oversensitive from his own orgasm, Ignis tugged and pulled at Gladio’s hair, grinding his hips down to meet Gladio’s, the continued pressure against his prostate dampening the discomfort. He clenched tight around him, and Gladio’s groans grew louder. He broke away from Ignis’s lips to let out a forceful grunt, slamming up against Ignis, and Ignis had no time to stifle his ragged moan.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m gonna come Iggy—” Gladio gasped, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Gods</span>
  </em>
  <span> I wanna come—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do it,” was all Ignis could manage, “Do it on me—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis was splayed on his back once more, bouncing on the mattress from the force. Gladio slid out of him without warning, and Ignis let out a high whine, both men having lost all regard for the inhabitants next door. Ignis laid on the worn mattress, his limp cock laying against front, his entrance empty and stretched, his deep and slow breaths interrupted only by the slick sound of Gladio pumping his cock and his desperate groans.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Iggy—!” Gladio shouted, his voice strangled. At that instant, thick spurts of Gladio’s come landed all over Ignis’s stomach, some of it hitting Ignis’s flaccid dick. Gladio’s low groans continued as he milked himself dry over Ignis’s pliant form, turning into an aroused moan when Ignis reached over to rub the come into his stomach. Regretfully, perhaps, in part that Ignis wished that Gladio filled him instead. When they were back in that dingy apartment they called home where they had running water and Ignis had nowhere to be but with Gladio, perhaps then, he'd ask him. 
 </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck, Ignis,” Gladio murmured. “I—” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The wind was knocked of out Ignis as Gladio collapsed on top of him, giving not one iota of awareness that he was getting his own come all over him. With a soft chuckle, Ignis ran his fingers through Gladio’s hair and pressed a kiss to his temple.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Happy Birthday Iggy,” grunted Gladio, his voice failing to betray the exhaustion brought by hours of driving alone, and then by making love to Ignis in a cramped and musty motel bed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Gladio,” Ignis whispered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gladio gave a wordless groan from his face buried in Ignis’s pillow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignis pressed his mouth into a thin line, ruminating on the words he longed to say, but not just yet. When everything was too fresh, too delicate to disturb.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You make me very happy,” he said softly instead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The mattress creaked as Gladio lifted his head up from the pillow. Ignis could then feel Gladio’s chin resting on his chest, his beard scratchy against his skin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gladio’s lips met his, his kiss chaste but firm. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good. All I wanna do is make you happy,” he said, his gruff voice low, his rough hand stroking over Ignis’s cheek. “You mean a lot to me Iggy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Leaning into Gladio’s hand, Ignis gave him a smile. “And you, me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He kissed him again, deeper and longer, and Ignis embraced his shoulders, the warm feeling in his chest overwhelming, like a light inside of him that no one could ever put out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wanna get cleaned up now?” asked Gladio.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Despite the uncomfortable stickiness between them, Ignis quite liked Gladio’s heavy weight on top of him. “Not just yet.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Whatever the birthday boy wants.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>a bit late but wew! editing was a bit haphazard and this was a bit of a struggle to write, do apologies for any inconsistensies, but a massive thanks to beefy for encouraging me through some pretty ugly writer's block and anxiety that made writing near anything almost impossible ;w;</p><p>as always, you can find me on here <a href="https://twitter.com/musterings1">@musterings1</a> where i'm currently going through a cor leonis related fever dream</p></blockquote></div></div>
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